Red Lips High Heels – Page 35 – Gender in the Middle East

The Pill Pop Culture in Lebanon

According to a recent report by the Institute for Development, Research, Advocacy and Applied Care (IDRAAC), 28.5 percent of Lebanese people have at least one mental disorder, mostly anxiety related (with a majority of post-traumatic stress disorder – PTSD and generalized anxiety). Such conditions often have even more formidable symptoms, such as chronic depression and bipolar disorder. Six to 17 percent of adults are at risk of depression in their lives, which affects women more than men by a ratio of 3:2. Signs of depression are seeing one’s self as pathetic, viewing the world as if nobody cares and perceiving the future as hopeless. University students can be particularly vulnerable to such illnesses due to lack of sleep and unhealthy lifestyles. According to estimates by the World Health Organization, up to 70 percent of Lebanese who suffer from depression are not getting proper treatment. The WHO believes there is an overall treatment gap of 90 percent for mental disorders in the Arab world.

“Most unsettling, however, is the increase in prescription drug use. Anti-anxiety medications, unlike more serious drugs, are not covered by the Ministry of Health, due to the high prevalence of such disorder, and also because they are cheap and easily available. In 2011, Lebanon had consumed a frightening amount of 1,000,000 tranquilizers and 642,000 anti-depressants. That’s a whole lot of anti-anxiety pills for a population of 4 million”.

An alarming number of women living in Lebanon pop pain pills for a boost of energy, a dose of calm or other non-medical reasons. Many of them use prescribed drugs (narcotics, anti-anxiety drugs…) so they do not feel they are abusing. It is a kind of trend which is not only a Western trend, taking the street drug’s place – meth, cocaine, and heroin. According to drug abuse experts, women seem more vulnerable than men to addiction to these types of drugs once they start taking them.

Whom to blame? Pharmaceutical industries? Lebanese Pharmacies? The Lebanese State? Men? Women?

What about Urbanization? Globalization? Political turmoil? Financial problems? The desire for a quick-fix for problems, rather than opting for long-term counseling? Lack of self-confidence?

“A good percentage of the depression in Lebanon is psycho-social, connected to current events in a person’s life, rather than a biological chemical imbalance, and this is best treated with therapy. But people think, ‘Why should I pay someone to talk?’”

‘Life with pills’ has become a ‘culture’. What has become conceivable is to dip into friends’ supplies – ‘do you have a XANAX pill? I forgot mine at home’. What has become inconceivable is to have a balanced life without even thinking about abusing drugs.

Ita��s the Season, the Season of Gifts (A Tribute to Mothers)

The truth is that ita��s the birth of the Christ. If we think about it historically though, it is not the exact date. We even celebrate it on two different dates. And, we know that neither is accurate. But when was it exactly that Christmas lost its spiritual sense? When was it exactly that the seasona��s songs took a turn from music sung by choirs about the serenity of the occasion to music that portrays the wishes and desires in the light of love and riches? When was it exactly that a�?Xmasa�? replaced a�?Christmasa�? and all the sanctuary of the season was lost?

As a kid, I never used to get gifts for my parents. Every year on Christmas morning I used to jump into my parentsa�� bed and kiss and hug my mom, happily repeating a�?Merry Christmasa�?. Growing up, I began to attempt to purchase presents for the occasion, but I was rarely convinced with whatever I used to pick. So, I used to end up, just like on any other special occasion, making something personal and attaching some poetic lines to it, wrapping it up and there we go! On most chances I get, I take portraits of my loved ones and with a special note I gift it to them. Sometimes, I make them a box and fill it with things they like. But this year, after all Ia��ve put my mother through, and because I can finally afford a grand gift, I wanted to get her something that would be symbolic of how much she means to me and how much I love her.

The malls were useless. A jacket? A blouse? A scarf? Those are so impersonal. I wanted to get her something she would adore. I didna��t want to get her something that she can consume and then throw away, like wine or chocolate, or something for the kitchen or the house; I wanted something memorable.

In this Christmas shopping I realized that my mother, like many other mothers, is hard to please. Mothers sacrifice their jobs, the things that make them happy, the time they would reserve for themselves, things that they would like to own for the sake of their children. Even when we, kids, grow up, our mothers still put us first, care about us first, take care of our needs first. Whenever Ia��d be sick, my mom would be next to me, taking me to the doctor, making me soup, forcing me to drink whatever I needed to drink to get better. And in the early adulthood years, even though she did not approve of alcohol consumption or smoking, shea��d make sure I was alright after a long night. And when I had an accident and broke a bone, my mother was mad at me for calling my dad instead, and she was impatiently waiting by the door, waiting for me to get home. And after my surgery and during therapy, my mother was doing everything imaginable to make sure I was comfortably rested: she turned her living room into a second bedroom for me, running to me if I ever called out a�?Moma�?.

Now, how can I sum up all my love and appreciation for this amazing woman in a wrapped up gift for Christmas? I can imagine her comments on any gift Ia��d get her: a�?You didna��t have toa�?, a�?Ita��s too expensivea�?, a�?I didna��t really need thisa�?, a�?I could have gotten this, you didna��t have to waste your money on ita�?, a�?You could have used your money on something for yourself, something more urgenta�?, a�?All I need for Christmas is to have you by my sidea�?.

My mother is more valuable than gold to me. Golda��s price goes up and down in the market, but how much my mother means to me only grows day by day. And, Ia��m still in the search of the perfect gift.

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Image Source: http://www.etsy.com

Gentille ou Bad Girl?

Je vous écris pour vous faire part d’un problème que je constate dans nos sociétés moyen-orientales marquées par la violence, les guerres, la haine, et… l’absence ou la rareté de gentillesse, de gratuité, de charité, de spontanéité. Je vis à Beyrouth et je voyage souvent à Dubai, au Caire, et au Koweit. La superficialité, le show-off, et la ‘bitchy attitude’ sont au rendez-vous. Etre gentil – femme ou homme, mais surtout si l’on est une femme – équivaut actuellement à être paria! Plus on est ‘pute’ dans la mentalité et la pratique, mieux on grimpe l’échelle socio-économique et on a plus de chance de trouver un ‘bon parti’. Je renvoie ici à une citation de Marcel Proust: “Quand nous parlons de la gentillesse d’une femme nous ne faisons peut-être que projeter hors de nous le plaisir que nous éprouvons à la voir”.

Vous avez récemment parlé Dr. Pamela Chrabieh – et je vous en remercie – du fait que nous nous trouvons actuellement dans “l’ère ou l’âge de la décadence”. La décadence vu l’absence de créativité, de remise en question, d’ouverture, de véritable révolution de la pensée, et j’ajouterai ici, vu l’absence de gentillesse. Etre gentil- gentille ne veut pas dire d’être idiot-e, au contraire, c’est être décomplexé-ée, aimant-e, et de favoriser les relations positives entre êtres humains.

Toutefois, ce qui est problématique au niveau de l’éducation des enfants en bas âge, c’est la différenciation qui s’opère et le sens tronqué qu’on donne aux mots: on apprend aux petites filles d’être ‘gentilles’ au sens d’être ‘calmes, obéissantes et soumises’, alors qu’on laisse les petits garçons exprimer leur ‘trop plein d’énergie’ et on aiguise leur sens du leadership. Je me rive contre cette définition de la gentillesse, évidemment. La gentillesse ne devrait pas être uniquement une qualité de femmes, ni ne devrait être inculquée à nos filles de manière à les habituer à être ‘consentantes’, faibles, passives, sans voix. Etre gentille n’est pas du tout d’être ‘bad girl’, ni ‘soumise et se faire marcher sur les pieds’, mais s’affirmer tout en pratiquant l’art de l’hospitalité.

'Witch Hunt' in Cairo

I am an Egyptian woman who has a story to tell about the aftermath of what was called the Arab Spring Revolutions. Forgive me if I use a nickname. I have been participating to many demonstrations in the Tahrir Square since Mr. Mohamed Morsi was elected as President. My main concern was – and still is – to stop the Constitutional reforms concerning the application of the Sharia. I believed that after the uprising things had changed for women in Egypt. I felt safe in the square. I thought there was no harassment. I was mistaken. I saw with my own eyes security forces beating and sexually assaulting friends and colleagues of mine. The state subjected them to humiliating ‘virginity tests’. Gangs of men are preying on young women.

I am pursuing my fight for equal rights between all Egyptians, but the ‘Witch Hunt’ is a major obstacle. As women, we found ourselves driven from the public space – this is why online spaces are a safe heaven. The revolution has also pushed us further out of the political arena. Even if I try to stay optimistic, I do not foresee a future for me in this country, especially when the three main principles of the revolution will not be achieved: bread, freedom and social justice. Every day I go to work, I fear of being harshly criticized by a fanatic man or a woman wearing a hijab. Egypt has become far more conservative and strict than before.

True that the Sharia can be interpreted in many different ways. Saudi Arabia prohibits women from driving a car, while Pakistan had a woman leading the country. However, in the case of Egypt today, it will most probably be used to reinforce negative social attitudes towards women and impose restrictions on their freedoms.

We, as liberal Egyptian women, are being forced to silence. We are waiting for the unknown…

The Case of Lesbians in Lebanon

It is with deep concern that I put on the table of discussion the case of lesbians in Lebanon. It has come to my attention, during my last visit, that some places, bars, restaurants are implicitly linked to their presence. Although it is reassuring to know that there are some safe havens, it remains very alarming the way lesbians are perceived and the extent of sarcasm and degradation that they so often endure. Our society labels and sequesters its lesbian members. It treats them as being abnormal, leprous, opposing the laws of nature and God. It remains to argue that the Bible or the Quran underline lesbianism as being unethical and therefore sinful. These words and texts can be interpreted in different ways, and can either harm or include lesbian women in our society.

What seems to be more tragic, in my opinion, is the ignorance and the fear of the straight woman or man from someone they do not understand, or who falls outside the usual norms. This damning judgment can drive these women to run away from the harsh reality that they face. If they are not brave enough to come out with who they are, they are bound to sink in depression, drugs, alcoholism, leading sometimes to suicide. And if they do proclaim what they hold true in their being, these women are faced with rejection from their own family, who think that they have become a sign of shame and they have destroyed the future held by their parents, as well as their friends and the people they know.

I have learned through the years that sexuality does not define your role or place in society. Being aware of it helps build safe and trusting relationships. Nobody would want to be fooled by his loved one. Faithfulness, respect and love are the tools to measure the health of any kind of relationship. Last, it is important to keep in mind that every woman, regardless of her sexual inclinations, has the right to be respected, to be loved, to have a place in the society which she belongs to.

Religious Identity versus Feminist Identity?

Do religious identities and feminist identities automatically fall in a conflictual dynamic? A question I have been asking myself for a long time… And my answer: there are ‘spaces’ of clash, and ‘spaces’ of dialogue, even in the most chaotic geopolitical zones such as the Middle East (Western Asia) where the religious knowledge tends to be a jealously protected product of religious men.

As a university professor in Theology and Sciences of Religions in Lebanon, I can assure you that managing my feminist identity and my religious beliefs, and trying to nurture a ‘convivial’ dynamic in a patriarchal environment is not an easy task. To bring feminism in a conversation about religions with religious men is extremely difficult. Also, to bring religion into a feminist conversation can be a huge red flag for some – I am thinking here of Joumana Haddad and her writings, clearly against Monotheistic religions – who perceive the experience as a dangerous affront threatening to impose a normative morality on others dictated by religious patriarchs.

As I see it, it is possible to be a committed feminist who can seek reforms from within religious traditions. This is what I am trying to do while living in Lebanon… This is what other feminists are trying to do elsewhere…

‘Red Lips High Heels’ blog and Facebook page are ‘spaces’ where women and men engage in writing, reading and commenting on content from their various feminist perspectives and with a diversity of feminist commitments. One of the objectives of this movement is to facilitate dialogue and partnership across differences and build alternative knowledge on men-women relations in the Middle East and on diversity management – including religious diversity management.

I read this morning an interesting article by Xochitl Alvizo (‘Being Undone by the Feminist Other’), analyzing Saba’s Mahmood’s work in her book ‘Politics of Piety: The Islamic Revival and the Feminist Subject’:

“First, Mahmood reminds us that the feminist project must be left “productively open” (Mahmood, 39). One cannot know the forms that agency, power, and resistance will take for a particular time and place. Mahmood states that “the ability to effect change in the world and in oneself is historically and culturally specific,” and therefore feminist enactments cannot be fixed in advance but must emerge from within their various contexts (Mahmood, 15). There is no “singularity of vision that unites us” all or that captures the various forms of agency and feminist action that are possible. To insist upon or impose only one version of feminism or one interpretation of feminist agency and empowerment may be to disregard and invalidate the feminist enactments of another.

The second helpful point I draw from Mahmood is in regard to how we understand and engage in criticism. Mahmood explains that criticism, in its most prevalent form is about “demolishing the opponent’s position and exposing the implausibility of their argument” (5-6). So for example, when Mahmood began her research with women in the Islamic revival movement in Egypt, she did not imagine that their acceding to ‘feminine’ virtues such as shyness, modesty, and humility could serve as a form of agency that empowered them to take on a more public role in the religious and political life of Egypt– that would have been a position she thought implausible and would have been inclined to demolish its credibility. However, what she discovered was that the women indeed used these virtues of piety, usually thought of as means of submission, to facilitate their increased public role and participation in civic life.

Thus, to define criticism only as being about “demolishing the opponent’s position and exposing the implausibility of their argument” is a limited and weak form of critique. Mahmood poses that what is most powerful is when criticism “leaves open the possibility that we might also be remade in the process of engaging another’s world view – when we leave open the possibility that we might come to learn things that we did not already know before we undertook the engagement with another.” What is required in order to do this is that we “turn the critical gaze upon ourselves.” And so, in the example above, Mahmood was able to see that for the women in that particular religious context it did not make sense that she impose her own understanding of agency with its secular-left political bias. She was able to see this because she was willing to turn her critical gaze back onto herself and in that way have her feminist understandings be undone by the other.

Part of being undone by our encounter with the other is that we recognize our own limits in knowing and seeing, and have our feminist borders break open toward new – more expansive – horizons. Being open to having ourselves and/or our feminism be undone by another is not a passive mode of being. It is a practice of attentiveness to what is going on in the experience of another and the limits of our won. It is a breaking open for the sake of weaving and strengthening one another’s feminist enactments, each of which seek to contribute to a more just and sustaining world even if in diverse and unexpected ways.

Regarding blogs then, when we participate and engage with one another in blog spaces in ways that leave open the possibility of our own transformation, we set the stage, the online environment for facilitating connections that may have previously been left untapped. When we engage in the form of criticism that leaves open the possibility of being undone by the encounter we actively expand our imagination to make room for new interrelated visions that lead us to new radical possibilities for bringing about a new reality. For the truth is that there are possibilities, untold narratives for a renewed world that do not yet exist in our imagination because we do not have, or have not allowed for, the space to call them forth.

Thus, this kind of criticism is not a tearing down, but is an act of building. It is done only if we are willing to put the work into it. It is done by a process that requires preparation, time, and thoughtful engagement instead of quick reaction. It is done when we are willing to pull in resources, raise questions, and express curiosity even while also raising concerns; when we name our own feelings and reactions without closing off to one another. This kind of criticism makes room for the diversity of women’s lived realities and regards different women’s experiences with dignity and respect.

Blogs can be a platform where we can be undone across definitions, generations, and experiences and where we can expand the borders of feminism and religion so that we may come to be called sisters by one another. What is at stake is of the very essence of feminisms – to not regard each other as objects for critique but subjects with whom we collaborate in the messiness of life. It is not easy work, but it is worthwhile work that gives embodied witness to the ethics of and vision for a world in which none are discounted, silenced, or subsumed – not even in blog spaces”.

A University Workshop on Gender Stereotypes and Women’s Situations in the Middle East

I organized yesterday afternoon a group workshop involving my students at the Holy Spirit University (USEK, Lebanon) on gender stereotypes and women’s situations in the Middle East. First-of-its-kind activity in the Faculty of Theology and in the university! Here are the results:

1- Defining Gender Stereotypes ( Target Group: Women):

– Women don’t know how to drive
– Women are only housekeepers
– Women should only stay in the kitchen
– Women are weak and depend on men
– Women are talkative and emotional
– Women are considered politically inexperienced
– Women are shopaholics and spend money on useless, trivial things
– Women only care about their appearance, clothes…
– Women are fragile and vulnerable
– Women seek men with money
– Women ask and expect too much
– Women aren’t suited for military services, nor political responsibilities
– Women aren’t fit to be leaders
– Women shouldn’t work when they get married
– Girls are a burden to their parents
– When a child has a bad conduct, it’s always because of his mother’s bad education
– It’s shameful for women to engage in sexual activities before marriage
– Women are not marginalized
– Men are able to reach their goals and to have more potential than women

2- Women’s Roles and Situations in the Middle East:

– Teenage girls aren’t allowed to date at an early age or stay out late
– In many cases, women aren’t allowed to choose their future husbands
– Women’s virginity is sacred and is related to the honor of the family
– Women are unequally treated in most institutions – private and public
– Lack of civil and legal rights (domestic violence, custody issues, personal status laws)
– Women are less paid than men for the same job and qualifications
– Sexism is a social standard
– Women’s voices and opinions are underestimated
– Women have to take the permission from their fathers or husbands to travel
– Women are most of times not handed high responsibilities nor serious tasks
– Lebanon has 3 women parliamentarians (over 128), whereas Sweden has a parliament where women constitute half of the people’s representatives
– Women have diminished roles in everything concerning political views, economical opinions and social relations
– Women aren’t allowed to lead prayers (Islam, Christianity, Judaism) in the Middle East
– Infertile/Sterile women are considered useless
– Women are always referenced to a man: the daughter of X, the wife of Y, the mother of Z
– Women who stay single after 40 are pitied and considered ‘aniss’ (negative connotation)
– In some Arab countries, women are still not allowed to study, to work, to give their nationality to their children, to ride a car… In Lebanon, women have active roles in education for example and half of university students are women. The Lebanese Constitution gives equal rights for men and women as citizens. Unfortunately, women continue to be excluded from senior positions, from political institutions and from decision-making.
– Women are given the role of housekeepers, wives and mothers. They are never depicted as presidents or high ranking officers for example.
– In case of divorce (and repudiation) women are deprived of their basic rights and loose custody of their children
– Excision is still practiced
– Middle Eastern societies are patriarchal
– Women’s situations have a bit improved, and there are organizations fighting for women’s rights, but the path to reach equality is long and arduous.

Women in Personal Status Laws: IRAQ, JORDAN, LEBANON, PALESTINE, SYRIA

Recommending the following study by Gihane Tabet (SHS Papers in Women’s Studies/ Gender Research – Gender Equality and Development Section, Division of Human Rights, Social and Human Sciences Sector, UNESCO, 2005).

Introduction:

The objective of this paper is to explain the legal system as it pertains to women’s rights in the Middle East. We will limit our study to inequalities in marriage, inheritance, and nationality in Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, and Syria, which have in common a traditional and patriarchal system in which family law is based on interpretations of Sharia (Islamic religious) law. Sources of information are legal texts, government reports, reviews, and interviews.

A religious state, as opposed to a secular state, establishes religion as a pertinent differentiating factor. Family Law, which is of interest to us here, thus falls into categories: a Muslim and a non-Muslim will not depend on the same legal regimes. Obviously, beyond being different, these legal regimes are never egalitarian. This inequality, which is not only legal but also political and social, is also the case for women. In these countries with a majority Muslim population, the laws and norms that apply to men and women are distinct, and unequal. In light of this inequality, discrimination against women will be at the heart of our report.

(…)

Conclusions and Recommendations:

In an era of globalization in which isolation becomes more and more unthinkable, discourses on human rights and those emanating from women’s movements increasingly go beyond boundaries. At a time of ever increasing trade and global interaction, falling back on communitarian values that ignore the demands of International Law has become less and less tenable. Although gaining ground in terms of legitimacy, international organizations that are standard-setters or that advocate international norms continue to face hesitation or resistance on the part of many countries. Many Islamic laws and norms, be they concerning women or families, have been in place from the time of Islam’s creation up until the twentieth century. We have seen that others are more “modern” creations, or distortions (e.g., discriminatory nationality laws).

There are now voices in the Muslim world arguing that at the beginning of the twenty-first century, many of the laws and norms are not tenable. This is because of the profound social changes in technology; of political systems that are vastly different from those in early Islamic history; of contemporary economic realities; and of the emergence of internationally recognized fundamental guidelines for human rights. Family laws in the Muslim world therefore should adapt themselves to the new social realities and aspirations. In particular, reform is needed in those areas of law concerning guardianship of adult women, inheritance, marriage (mixed and civil), and nationality.
We have seen that in the countries surveyed, none is capable of guaranteeing an egalitarian status to women within the framework of their current laws. The family laws of the case-study countries, whatever form they may take, are at odds on some points with the international conventions guaranteeing women’s rights.

We have shed light on the intrinsic link between the disparities contained in the personal status codes and the texts of the Qu’ran in which they are rooted. However, we should be cautious of links that are too obvious or proclaimed too readily. While the laws in force are indeed influenced by the sacred text, one may well propose that they constitute an a posteriori justification for a patriarchal system trying to maintain itself through the oppression of women. It is easier to justify domination by divine will than by the will for power. In support of this caution we could note the inequalities in the personal status codes of the Lebanese Christian communities. These texts, though not inspired by the Qu’ran, are part of the same system of discrimination against women. Furthermore, each personal status code that draws its inspiration from the Qu’ran translates differently the religious precepts into law. This shows that interpretation is necessary and that behind divine will human will is always hiding. A contradiction must be noted; if the family is so important in Muslim culture, why is it so easy for a man to divorce (repudiation)? If justice is the objective, why are the rights of non-Muslims inferior? Reform is therefore required in this religion, which by supporting patriarchy, fosters discrimination against women’s rights as citizens.

However, peaceful coexistence between Islamic law and human rights is entirely possible and would greatly improve the situation. An enlightened interpretation by women and men of goodwill would allow the sharing of universal values while respecting the diversity of faiths.

It should be noted that the case-study countries, without exception, have already signed the international conventions on women’s rights. However each ratification was accompanied by reservations that aimed to guarantee the primacy of the Qu’ran over any recommendation would be contrary to it. These reservations are not, however, a sign of failure for international law. The ratification of the conventions denotes a positive will to go forward towards more egalitarian values even if a period of adjustment seems necessary.

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Women, Shari'a, and Personal Status Law Reform in Egypt after the Revolution

Recommending the following analysis by Camilo Gómez-Rivas | Assistant Professor of Middle Eastern history – The American University in Cairo.

Like almost everything else during the uncertain period of the transitional government, the future of personal status law reform is at a crossroads in Egypt. The new constitution (assuming one will exist)[1] may technically have little direct impact on how the country’s laws affect women’s lives, but the legislative process that emerges thereafter most certainly will. Likewise, while the ongoing electoral and constitutional process may have no immediate bearing on the laws of family and personal status (such laws are often implemented more gradually), much of the population does not see it so. For many, the role religion plays in the future political life of the country is an issue of utmost urgency and significance. And the application of shari‘a often symbolizes this role, a role that in Egyptian society is most visible in the laws of personal status, which cover matters such as marriage, divorce, child custody, and inheritance.

Women’s legal status, as affected by these laws, constitutes, therefore, a key symbolic battleground over which conservative and progressive forces are struggling to realize their visions of the future. The debates raging over whether elections or a constitution should come first, followed by the debate over what constitutional or supra-constitutional principles the process should follow, illustrates this struggle in broad scope.[2] Efforts to affect the social and legal status of women more directly are also afoot, however, as myriad social and political groups attempt to organize across the country. The eventual process of legislation and enactment will necessarily be complicated, but the political narratives that seek to affect it are not — the power of the political message depends on its simplicity. Some argue that Islam and family are the foundations of a healthy society and paint past reforms as part and parcel of the corruption of the former regime. Others, including both foreign and domestic parties, see any talk of Islam or shari‘a as a symptom of a truncated democratic process. There are many shades in between.

In Egypt, the debate over personal status law reform for Muslims (Christians have their own family law) has centered on the Islamic legal term khula‘, a divorce process initiated by the female spouse in which she forfeits financial rights and reimburses her husband the dowry paid when contracting the marriage. A period of reconciliation must ensue before the divorce is enacted, and she must state in court that she “hates living with her husband” and is “afraid to cross the limits of God.”[3] The key issue about khula‘ is that it does not require spousal consent. It is a reform to divorce laws that is based on the Islamic legal tradition, while also representing a break from the classical definition of khula‘, which required consent and could thus be easily thwarted by the husband.

This current form of khula‘ was incorporated into Egypt’s personal status law in 2000 and was accompanied by other reforms, including the formulation of a new standard marriage contract that gave women the right to stipulate conditions, such as the right to divorce in the event of a husband’s contracting a second marriage. Further reforms in 2005 also included the establishment of family courts, the creation of a Family Fund for court-ordered alimony and maintenance for female disputants, and new child custody laws (child custody laws have increasingly become central in the national debate). Support for the reforms by means of mobilizing and drafting came from various quarters of Egyptian society, but the final legislation counted on the support of the now-defunct National Democratic Party and the National Council for Women, headed by the former First Lady, Suzanne Mubarak.

Post-January 25 detractors of these reforms refer to them as “Suzanne’s Law” — echoing criticism of a set of reforms enacted under Anwar Sadat, then labeled “Jehan’s Law,” after First Lady Jehan Sadat — and are seeking to repeal them on the basis that they “contradict shari‘a” and are a legacy of the corruption and tyranny of the fallen regime. Criticism of such reforms, especially by invoking shari‘a, is nothing new in Egypt. What is new in the current backlash “is their being presented to the public as part of a revolutionary struggle against corruption and the political repression of the old regime,” according to Mulki al-Sharmani, former research faculty at the Social Research Center at the American University in Cairo.[4]As the transitional government lumbers toward national elections and the drafting of a new constitution, social and political actors are positioning themselves to affect the ultimate outcome, some calling for a complete repeal of existing reforms, others calling for broader and more thorough legislation in favor of gender equality.

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The Superwoman Syndrome: A Middle Eastern Reality

I began thinking seriously about the Superwoman Syndrome when I fell into the vicious circle of trying to be perfect at all levels. The first time occurred in Montreal (QC, Canada) while studying (M.A., PhD, Post-doctorate researches…) and working 20/24 hours. The second time in Lebanon…

During one of the first women gatherings (sobhiyat) I attended in 2007, someone asked me if I work. My answer was: Yes, almost 24/24, and proud of it!

It took me few years to fully realize that this ‘train de vie’ is physically and psychologically damaging.

A friend of mine published a post on Facebook in May 2011, describing her way of life – and obviously mine too : “I am an alarm clock, a cook, a maid, a teacher, a nanny, a nurse, a “handyman”, a safety officer, a psychiatrist, a driver, an ATM, an amusement park, a cuddly friend (doudou)… I have no vacation or sick days. I am on call all year long!”. I included the following list: “I am a daughter, a sister, a cousin, a wife, a mother, a lover, a daughter in law, a sister in law, a worker, a volunteer, a robot, a conflict resolution and mediation expert, an activist, a social relations instigator, a judge, an investigation officer, an accountant, a victim, a slayer, a citizen, a friend, an enemy… A ‘superwoman’ struggling to survive… “

In fact, this reality/syndrome characterizes many women I know – friends, colleagues and acquaintances – living in Lebanon and the Middle East in today’s fast pace lifestyle. Women who are constantly striving to accomplish everything possible in a perfect manner. Even when having the time, they consider themselves selfish to indulge in self-pampering or to simply provide themselves a quiet time alone. And if it’s not the case, society customs and laws remind them of ‘their duties’, ‘goals’ and ‘standards’ that are most often unnaturally high – i.e. impossible. Women who are caught in a vicious circle of measuring their self-worth and being measured by others in terms of productivity, excellence and tangible accomplishments beyond average.

Unfortunately, these women are losing in the battle of equality with men when they are burned out and constantly unsatisfied. They end up losing their self-worth and being exhausted on physical, psychological and interpersonal levels. I often found myself lost when striving to become a perfect worker, a perfect mother and a perfect housekeeper, to the point of undermining my health and my relations to others. It took me several years and gradual concentration on my needs/aspirations and dreams to begin to break the vicious circle and to recognize/embrace my imperfections.

I am still working on getting off the super powerful Treadmill and being/living as a WOMAN, not as a superwoman.